1952, The Year Of The UFO

Article by Bruce MacCabee

by Bruce MacCabee

We are approaching the 50th anniversary of a very significant
day in UFO history. To see why, read the following and visit the
link below.

After analysis of many sighting reports the Air Force
concluded that:
about 148 unknown objects were sighted in June
about 536 were sighted in July
and about 326 were sighted in August,
with lesser numbers in the months preceding and following
the summer months.

These sightings were made in 1952, THE YEAR OF THE UFO.

This was the year when Washington, DC, was invaded by
objects that caused unexplained radar returns and
appeared as unusual moving lights.

This was the year when Truman ordered the CIA to determine
what was going on.

And this was the year when General John A. Samford, head of
Air Force Intelligence, lied to the American people.

Samford told the assembled press, on July 29, 1952, that the
sightings and radar targets detected over Washington, DC
during the preceding two weekends were merely radar aberrations
caused by warm weather and a temperature inversion.
He was wrong.

He admitted that in the thousand or more reports collected by the
Air Force there were "unsolved" reports by "credible observers
of relatively incredible things." He went on to say that all the
unexplained sightings throughout the USA (and in other countries)
resulted from natural phenomena incorrectly perceived.
That was wrong.... and apparently he knew it.

He indicated that the Air Force had rejected the idea that any
flying saucers or UFOs could be spacecraft from another planet.
He lied.

Samford's press conference had a lasting effect on the study
of UFO sightings. By claiming that all sightings were caused by
natural phenomena Samford reinforced the natural tendency of the
scientific community and the skeptical press to reject any suggestion
of extraterrestrial visitors. He thereby reinforced the tradition,
already established by the Air Force, that there was nothing
to flying saucer sightings (all misidentifications, hoaxes or
delusions).

Starting in the middle 1970's information began to become available
which shows what the top Air Force brass was really thinking but
not saying publicly. With the release of the FBI's "X" file
(the file on flying discs) document became available that showed the
top AF brass was seriously considering "interplanetary" as the
explanation for the unexplainable UFO sightings.

How can this be, you may ask?

To find out why not travel with me back in time to when
"UFOs were young"!!
(For those of you new to ufo studies this will be an valuable
historical survey.) Find out the connection between Marilyn
and "interplanetary visitors" (you know which Marilyn....and I
don't mean Manson!). Learn what the FBI was told on the same day
that General Samford said it was all natural phenomena.
Learn what the CIA was told by the Air Force.
Learn why our world changed a little that year...

In 3 short months (June, July and August) the Air Force
collected about 1700 sighting reports. Many of these were
multiple witness reports. Later analysis (Special Report #14)
suggested that these witnesses saw about 900 different objects.
Furthermore, after analysis by experts, 186 of these objects
were found to be unexplainable ("Unknown").
Why wasn't this sufficient to
convince everyone that something strange was going on?
We now know that some at the upper levels of the Air
Force were seriously considering the (gulp!)
Interplanetary Hypothesis!!

Why did General Samford, at his large press conference on
July 29, slam the lid down on UFO investigation when he
could have done the opposite?
Why are we stuck in the "tradition" that there is nothing to
UFO sightings?